Adjustable rail-brace.



E. LAAS & H. H. SPONENBURG.

ADJUSTABLE RAIL BRACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-10,1913- 1 ,1 97,641. Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

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'E. LAAS & H. H. SPONENBURG. ADJUSTABLE RA |L BRACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.10,I9-13- 1,197,641. PatentedSept.12,1916.

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E. LAAS & H. H. SPONENBURG.

ADJUSTABLE RAIL BRACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. H1, 1913.

1 ,1 97,641 Patented Sept. 12,1916.

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EDWARD LAAS, OF SHAWNEE, OKLAHOMA, AND HIRAlVI H. SPONENBURG, OF GUBNEE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO LAAS & SPONENBURG CO., A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

ADJUSTABLE RAIL-BRACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

Application filed March 10, 1913. Serial No. 753,264.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD LAAS and HIRAM H. SPONENBURG, citizens of the United States, residing at Shawnee, in the county of Pottawatomie and State of Oklahoma, and Gurnee, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Rail-Braces, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to devices for bracing railroad rails against the side thrusts of the car wheels, or other disturbing stresses, and thereby preventing them from spreading or tilting.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive and effective device of this character which will readily adjust itself to a changed position of the rail where it becomes necessary to raise or shim up the rail from the tie.

It is well known that the road-beds of railroads will heave during the winter months. This heaving and consequent distortion of the surface of the road-bed is not uniform, being dependent upon the character of the ballast and subsoil. As a result, in order to maintain a smooth track, it is usually necessary in winter time to raise the rails from the ties at certain points by means of shims. It is not practical to raise the ties themselves because they are frozen to the road bed. This shimming up of the rail brings about a dangerous condition by making it more easy for the rails to spread under the thrust of the wheels. A rail takes a certain set in the tie, or even in the tie plate, which, to a certain extent, checks any tendency to lateral displacement. As soon as this seat is disturbed by shimming up the rail the danger of spreading is at once increased. When a rail is shimmed up in this way it is not practical to use the ordinary.

rail brace for preventing the spreading of the rail. Even if a rail brace be used on top of the shim the brace obviously cannot be spiked as firmly to the relatively thin shims as it ordinarily is to the heavier tie.

Our invention provides a device which can be used to securely hold the rail against lateral displacement in both directions and which, while it is at all times securely fastened to the tie itself, has an adjustability which will permit the rail to be raised or lowered as conditions require.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a rail brace which will be both light and strong, which may be made of mall able iron or other cast metal, or of rolled metal, as desired.

The invention has for further objects such other new and improved constructions and arangements relating to rail braces as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is illustrated, in a preferred embodiment, in the accompanying drawings, wherein-'- Figure 1 shows the device in elevation applied to a rail which is shown in cross section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the same but with the rail shimmed up from the tie. Fig. 4, a view of the blank from which the brace is made by bending over certain parts as will be hereinafter described. Fig. 5 is a view, in perspective, of a modification. Fig. 6, a top plan view of the same, and Fig. 7, a side elevation.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a T-section railroad rail of ordinary type, and B one of the ties on which the rail is supported.

The device shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive consists preferably of a rolled sheet or blank of metal C (Fig. 4) which bears fiatwise against the side face of the tie B and is formed with slots D whereby it may be secured to the tie at adjustable heights by any suitable means, preferably by means of screw spikes E. The sheet of metal C is preferably, though not necessarily, rolled thinner at one end than the other, the taper being, by preference, uniform from one edge to the other. The sheet is stamped or cut out or otherwise formed so that a bracing element is provided that bears against the vertical web F of the rail and preferably against the under side of the ball of the rail and the upper surface of the base flange G thereof, a slot H being provided between the projection and the body of the sheet constituting a jaw for the reception of the base flange which has a bearing therein top and bottom. The sheet 0 is, by preference, formed with a projection I and also, at the other side of the device, with a projection J: These projections are bent at substantially right angles to the rest of the device so that they bear upon the upper surface of the element, the tie or shim, on which the rail A is supported. A spike hole or notch K is formed in the edge of the flange I and preferably the metal around the spike hole is pressed or otherwise formed so as to provide a shoulder L for the head of the spike M. The flange I preferably lies close to the base flange so as to hold the rail from displacement in this direction. The flanges I and J, but particularly the flange J, serve to check any tendency of the device to move on the screw spikes E.

Fig. 3 shows a rail A raised from the tie B by means of the shims N. lVhen the rail is to be shimmed up in this manner it is only necessary to loosen the screw spikes E and raise the brace. It will be noted that the device, even when the rail is raised upon shims, is still firmly attached to the tie. It is not necessary to withdraw the screw spikes or other devices by which the device is fastened to the tie but merely to loosen them a trifle when the rail is raised or lowered. This is important in the matter of saving labor and also because since the spikes are not substantially disturbed their holding power is not weakened. The device is guided so that it moves vertically. Therefore the gage of the track is maintained with exactness when the rail is shimmed up. The device can be applied to the opposite side of a rail by simply reversing it and attaching it to the other side face of the tie from that shown. If, however, it is desired to make the braces in rights and lefts this can be done by bending over the flanges I and J in the opposite direction from that shown.

A cast metal device is shown in Figs. 5 to 7 inclusive, this device being preferably made of malleable iron. In the preferred form shown in the drawings, the device may be said to consist of a bar 0 formed on opposite ends with the downwardly projecting tie-abutting members P and on one end with a jaw member Q formed with a projection R adapted to bear upon the upper surface of the tie (or shim, as the case may be), the other end of the device being provided with the projecting plate 0r flange S which bears upon the tie or shim on the opposite side of the rail. The tie abutments P are formed with slots T for the screw spikes E, the structure being preferably reinforced by bosses U surrounding the slots T. It may also be further strengthened by webs V. Preferably the plate S is formed with a notch WV for a spike M.

l/Vhile we have described our invention in preferred embodiments, it will be understood that modifications might be made in the form and proportion of the parts of the device without departure from our invention.

We claim:

1. A rail brace comprising a metal device adapted to bear against the side face of a tie, formed with spaced vertical slots whereby it may be secured to said tie at different heights and provided with an element which bears against the side of the rail which said device is designed to brace, and with a substantially horizontal flange which bears upon the surface on which said rail is sup-.

ported, said flange being formed with a spike hole and with a shoulder back of said hole, for the purpose described.

2. A rail brace consisting of a uniformly tapered sheet of metal which is uniformly tapered in thickness and adapted to be secured flatwise againstthe side face of a tie and formed with. a projection, the. edge of which bears against the rail which said device is designed to brace.

3. A rail brace consisting of a sheet of .metal uniformly tapered from. side to side,

and formed with slots whereby it may be secured at different heights to the side face of a tie, with a projection the edge of which bears against the vertical web of the rail which said device is designed to brace, and

with substantially horizontal flanges adapt- Copies of this patent may be obtained for [five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 116. 

